Vallejo couple arrested, accused of making Trump- and Kool-Aid-themed meth pills

Feb. 08--The Drug Enforcement Administration announced that a Vallejo couple was arrested Thursday, accused of manufacturing methamphetamine pills at the elder care facility they operated.

Henry Benson, 37, and Roselle Cipriano, 36, face charges related to manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine and conspiracy to commit crimes after a DEA investigation linked them to a counterfeit tablet operation first reported in 2017, the DEA's San Francisco Field Division said in a news release Friday.

An investigation determined that Benson and Cipriano, who are married, were manufacturing and distributing these pills out of the Genesis Care Home for the Elderly on Lewis Avenue in Vallejo, which was also the couple's residence, DEA officials said.

Undercover DEA agents purchased thousands of tablets from the couple, court documents say. They included yellow tablets, some of which were stamped with images in the likeness of President Donald Trump, others bearing resemblance to the Kool-Aid man and others bearing the Tesla logo, the release said. Lab tests came back positive for the presence of methamphetamine.

Counterfeit tablets of alprazolam (Xanax) were also bought by undercover investigators, the release said.

DEA and Vallejo police served a federal search warrant at the Vallejo location Thursday, where they discovered 31 pounds of meth tablets, 17 pounds of suspected meth, a pill presser and a shotgun.

Customs and Border Protection assisted the DEA and Vallejo Police Department in the case, which is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, DEA said in the release.

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